the question receive earlier<\/a> because the writer knew the difference between elders, deacons, and preachers and understood that the qualifications for elders do not apply to preachers. Because of this, I assume he is a member of the church.<\/p>\nHowever, it should be noted that because the church draws many people out of the denominations that people often carry ideas with them without stopping to check to see if they match the teachings in the New Testament. I suspect this is a source of people wanting to add a requirement that God did not make. People perceive, though wrongly, that a married preacher is more stable and less likely to get involved in sexual sins.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: I wanted to make a comment about\u00a0requiring preachers to be married. I have taken note that the denominations do not generally adhere to scriptural church leadership, and instead of a plurality of elders, they have a board of deacons and one ‘elder’ or ‘pastor,’ who also serves as the preacher. In other words, they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[300,123,667,1511],"class_list":["post-15140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-denominations","tag-elders","tag-organization-of-the-church","tag-preachers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9740,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-function-of-a-pastor\/","url_meta":{"origin":15140,"position":0},"title":"What is the function of a pastor?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What is the function of a pastor? Answer: The denominational world uses the term \"pastor\" in a way that you do not find in the Bible. Among the denominations, a pastor is a person who preaches and runs a local congregation. It is a blend of the duties the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8595,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-woman-be-a-pastor\/","url_meta":{"origin":15140,"position":1},"title":"Can a woman be a pastor?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 13, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can a woman be ordained as a Christian pastor? Answer: The word \"pastor\" is used very loosely in the denominations. Generally, in a denomination a pastor is a preacher. Women are not able to be preachers since God through Paul stated, \"And I do not permit a woman to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90444,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-pastor-sins-is-he-still-qualified-to-be-a-pastor\/","url_meta":{"origin":15140,"position":2},"title":"If a pastor sins, is he still qualified to be a pastor?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: If a pastor sins and then repents, is he still qualified to be a pastor? I don't know the Bible from cover to cover, but I've heard some Christians say that a pastor can no longer preach if he has sinned. I'm wondering if a pastor who has truly\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35535,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-a-preacher-sins-is-he-permanently-disqualified-from-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":15140,"position":3},"title":"If a preacher sins, is he permanently disqualified from preaching?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 4, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, What is the proper term to call the speaker on Sunday? Is it a pastor or a preacher? Also, to be a preacher you basically have to have all the qualifications of an elder correct? And if for some reason a preacher sins, such as adultery, they would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34849,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/would-a-preacher-or-elder-be-allowed-who-had-children-involved-in-sexual-sins\/","url_meta":{"origin":15140,"position":4},"title":"Would a preacher or elder be allowed who had children involved in sexual sins?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 17, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I have been reading some of your web-based information, and I have a few questions; If a youth pastor in the church of Christ (don't worry, not yours) that has serious secrets in their family such as a gay son who is now out of the house, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1497,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/can-a-man-be-both-a-preacher-and-an-elder\/","url_meta":{"origin":15140,"position":5},"title":"Can a man be both a preacher and an elder?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 19, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Can an elder function as an evangelist and vice versa? Answer: The word \"pastor\" in\u00a0Ephesians 4:11\u00a0comes from a Greek word referring to a shepherd. This is the man charged with the care and feeding of a flock. As with the office of the evangelist, this office is described by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15140"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15140\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}